Providing exhibition stands for clients is a highly specialised service.  However, if you do not have an accurate understanding of their company then it will involve a great deal of guesswork.  Without knowing certain basics, you really will be just poking around in the dark. Answer the following questions:

• What type of products is your client promoting?
• What kind of image does their company have?
• What (if any!) ideas does your client have about how they want their stands to look?

It is vital to know the answers to all of these questions!  After all, the ultimate goal in exhibition stand design is to attract as many visitors as possible within a very short space of time.  And this cannot be done without a good knowledge of your client and their company.

Logos and Branding

The best exhibition stands are the ones which make full use of a company’s logo.  This means they will be eye-catching and that any existing clients will recognise the company straight away. If the company have a particularly strong logo, then how about presenting it in a 3D, projected or illuminated format?  Many clients will really like the idea of this!

Reeling in Your ‘Catch’

Once you have ‘caught’ the attention of a visitor you will want to ‘reel them in’.  Make sure that plenty of your client’s contact details are easily at hand throughout the display.  Leaflets, business cards and flyers are great to have at hand throughout your client’s stand.

Getting the Message Across

Exhibitions have a tendency to be quite noisy locations, so a special attention to visuals is always a good idea.  Photographs, prototypes and diagrams will all do their job, however noisy the venue becomes!

Don’t overdo it with text though…  many people are very lazy when it comes to reading information and will not be prepared to stand around poring through reams of information about new products.  If you do have to use text, then try and keep it to a bare minimum.

Having a few short sentences will often deliver a far more potent message than any long and sprawling paragraphs!  If any visitors want to know the finer details regarding any products, they can soon pick up a few of the company’s leaflets instead or approach the friendly staff that will be on hand.

Choosing the Right Colours

Using the correct colours in an exhibition stand design can be a very tricky business.  They do not want to appear too dark, but they should also not be so bright that they give visitors a migraine either!

Some clients will have definite ideas about the colours they want to use, particularly if they have a colour-themed image to their company’s stationary and graphics.

For a really powerful display that will stop people in their tracks, complimentary colours are a serious consideration.  A background in one shade will cause the foreground to jump right out if it is presented in its opposite colour.

Creating a Model for Your Client

Presenting your client with a 3D scale model of a proposed display will make the whole business far more ‘real’.  Once they have inspected this you will have much more idea of what they do/do not like and whether you are working along the right lines or not.

This can also be a great way of ensuring that no expensive mistakes are made!

Some Effective Features

Incorporating a video screen or laptop into your client’s display can have a very beneficial effect.  A short video message of around three minutes can be highly informative and really grab the attention of visitors.

Lighting

The correct use of lighting is very important in an exhibition display; it is all about creating a careful but effective balance.  It should not be too bright, but it must be light enough for visitors see what they are looking at!  Why not use some spot lights in the construction of your clients stand?  These can have a really dynamic effect on a display if they are situated cleverly.

Over the weekend my boyfriend and I went to a relatives shop to buy some furniture. While we were there they were saying how quiet business was and we started looking at their website which is very basic and old fashioned. They don’t want to sell online which I understand, but I asked why they didn’t have any prices of their products online and they said “WE LIKE it if people phone us if they want more information.” At this point I said that many people, myself included, wouldn’t bother ringing they just want to get an idea of prices to see if it’s within their price range and worth the journey.

It started me thinking, it really doesn’t matter what the client wants or what we want as designers, but it is down to us to try and work out what the end user wants and convince the client. It is hard to design something that goes completely against the grain of your own taste, but it is something, we as designers need to do. I keep a sketchbook which every now and then I cut up bits of design magazines, leaflets etc that I LIKE and paste them in for future reference. Perhaps really what I should be doing is cutting out and keeping things that really make sales. Take for instance those hideous (to me) adverts that you get in the back of Sunday Newspaper magazines sometimes, the ones selling pottery animals or flowery sofa covers, adverts like this must cost a fortune to place and you don’t just see them in one week so they must sell I assume. Perhaps I should be collecting things like this, or at least collecting material suitable for different age groups and types of people.

Who cares what I like or the client likes, it is the target market that really counts and what sells. What do you think?

ArtRage Studio Pro – Natural Painting Software for Mac or PC

On first opening Artrage Studio Pro (I have reviewed an old version previously) it looked very easy to use. The tools are set up in a pallette in a corner and you can basically get painting straight away. In fact at first glance it looks quite a basic program, this is a good thing as it is not too intimidating for a beginner, but there is a lot more hidden beneath the surface. Each of the painting tools have some ready made presets but you can make your own variations, it is easy to change the size opacity, pressure and thinners. You can pull in a photo or rough sketch to use as a tracing image and choose to use the colours from the tracing image or choose your own.

I first started by bringing in a picture of my dog as a tracing image and then was pleased to find that you can also bring in a reference image, which looks like it has been pinned to your canvas. I started by trying a water colour brush and put a wash down which I think looks quite convincing. I did work on this a bit more but it is a bit too embarassing to show the results here – but that was down to me, the user and not the software.

I had a bit of an experiment with the oil paints too, using a tracing image from a royalty free site, and I think with a little more practice I could get some pretty decent results. After all you wouldn’t expect to pick up a real paintbrush, after you hadn’t done it for years and be a maestro, and this sure beats cleaning up wet paint. It could also make for some more varied painterly images for you graphic design work rather than straight photograph. Using the tracing feature with a little practice you wouldn’t need to be an artistic genius to get some decent results either.

Overall I really like ArtRage 3 Studio Pro, I found it much easier to use than “Painter” which I have tried in past and I think it has a low learning curve. The only small thing I think could be improved is the menu for moving the canvas about (you can rotate it as well as move it up down side to side) which I would prefer was in a small top palette with the zoom feature, rather than taking up a lot of canvas space, but this is pretty minor.

If you would like to give ArtRage a try you can download a demo here. ArtRage is available in different versions – ArtRage 2.6 Starter Addition for FREE, ArtRage 2.6 Mac and PC $20, ArtRage 3 Studio Mac and PC $40 and ArtRage 3 Studio Pro £ (which I used) for $80.

Below you can see some videos of people who really know how to use ArtRage and below that more information on The Wacom Bamboo Fun.

You can also find a series of tutorial videos for ArtRage here if you want to try them with the demo.

Wacom Bamboo Fun (Medium)

As I mentioned before I have never really got the hang of using a drawing tablet so I was intrigued to see if I would get on better with this one, and I did. The pen feels smooth and responsive to use and works well with ArtRage, I felt more like I was really painting and drawing. The new tablet also gives you the ability to use your fingers to control zooming scrolling and rotating though I found this a bit tricky, but I think that is because I have got so used to doing this on my Ipad and this feels very different. According to twitter user @matt_cochr using a drawing tablet has helped with his RSI so that may be another reason to consider one. You can see the new range of Wacom Bamboo tablets here.

You can see a thorough video review of the Wacom Bamboo Fun by Geekanoids below

It is because of this I have been wondering whether to create a free guide called something like – How to Freelance for Beginners. If this is something you would be interested in please let me know by signing up below to be alerted when the guide is ready.

Sign up for notification of the Freelance Guide

Name:

Email:

Please put in the comments anything you would specifically like covered in the guide.

Meanwhile I have previously written several posts on how to freelance that you might enjoy:

How to Freelance Posts From Graphic Design Blog UK

Advice for New Freelance Designers by 30+ Freelance Designers
The answer from 30+ freelance designers to the question – What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone starting out freelancing?

Working Freelance From Home or Inhouse, Pros and Cons
Working in house can prove a more sociable way to work but freelancing from home has its perks too.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of Freelance Design Through a Third Party (Middleman)
As well as working directly for companies as a freelancer you may also get offered work via a third party, this could be a PR company or a design company that subcontracts their design work to you. This cuts out some of the client management process which has both pros and cons.

Back up Your Freelance Design Work
I can’t emphasise the importance of keeping back ups of your freelance design work. Losing a days work is frustrating, but several weeks or months work could be a major disaster for your business.

How Much Can You Charge for Freelance Graphic Design
A look at how to calculate what you should charge for your freelance design services

So What’s Stopping You Becoming a Freelance Designer
My personal journey to becoming a freelance graphic designer

Does a Freelancer Need an Accountant?
How an accountant can save you more than you pay them

Freelancing – Breaking Free from Fulltime Employment
Questions you should ask yourself before going freelance and tips to help you.

8 Reasons Why Designers Should Blog
My recent post with examples of how blogs have helped freelance designers

How to Freelance Advice from Other Design Bloggers

7 Tips for Freelancers Arranging a Holiday
A post by Ken Reynolds which deals with the tricky problem of how to take holidays as a freelancer

Why Freelancers Should Not Announce Their Availability
An interesting post by Brian Yerkes who thinks freelance designers may be missing out on work by publicly announcing their availability.

Urgent! How to Handle those Last-Minute Design Requests
Every freelancer at some point will receive a call with a last minute design request Tracey Grady discusses the best way to deal with them.

Self-employment advice for designers
Davis Airey offers his advice for designers considering self employment.

Does green graphic design exist and does green graphic design really even matter? Yes and yes.

When people think of businesses going green, they might picture Fortune 500 companies installing wind farms and solar panels, and reducing their packing materials; however, there are many ways for graphic designers to be environmentally responsible. Even one graphic designer or small design firm can make a big difference.

Below are five examples of green graphic design initiatives to get started:

1. Streamline office space to be more energy efficient.

There are lighting choices, furniture and design choices and even windows, doors, insulation and heating and cooling systems that can all help your home office or commercial space be more green. Contact your local chamber of commerce, and find out if they have any information on becoming certified as a sustainable business. Some cities now have green chambers of commerce to address this growing need.

2. Create social changes

Get all your coworkers involved in becoming more environmentally aware. Purchase only environmentally friendly office products, make sure everyone is recycling and reducing wasted paper and materials. Encourage using green transportation such as bicycles, public transportation or carpooling to get to work.

3. Donate to green causes

Designers can purchase carbon offset credits to offset the impact made when traveling for business or to a conference. Start a donation matching program where you match employee donations to environmental charities. Don’t forget to talk about these initiatives either in an e-newsletter or on the “About Us” page of your website.

4. Work with green clients and organizations

Choose to work with clients who have environmental or corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in place. Designers can also help clients to build a greener brand and better communicate any CSR or environmental initiatives in their communication materials.

5. Make green production choices

Select environmentally friendly inks and use a printer who reduces wasted paper and employs the most environmentally friendly chemicals during the print process. Finally educate yourself about recycled and sustainable paper sources.

To find out more about green graphic design, check out these leading resources:

• Green Graphic Design by Brian Dougherty is a book about how graphic designers can effect environmental change.
• Society for Responsible Design is an organization website with many useful tips for green graphic design.
• Design Change is a non profit organization with resources for designers to create environmentally positive changes in their work.
• The Living Principles is a hub for green graphic design, with event listings, resources and a community forum.

Britt Brouse is a writer for PsPrint Blog. She has been writing about marketing, graphic design and printing for more than five years. In between writing deadlines, you can find her riding her bike around town, sipping an iced-coffee or hanging out on the front porch with her dog, Jackie. PsPrint is an online printing solutions company, which you can follow on Twitter and Facebook.

Image via Flickr user Sean McGrath

1. Blogging Helps Designers Get Found in Google (SEO)

You probably already know this but google loves blogs and fresh content so when you blog about design you increase your chances of getting found by potential clients. I can by personal experience say that through both this blog and my personal design blog I have received several thousand pounds of work that otherwise I wouldn’t have got. Not only can potential clients see your work but they can get an insight into your personality through the way you write and the way you interact with people that comment on your blog.

Blogging can help you find both international or local work. Most people probably see blogging as an opportunity for designers to do work for clients further afield but I also use it to find local clients. By trying to optimise my personal blog for local words such as using my county in some of my post headings I will be more likely to be found by local companies.

2. Finding Full Time Design Employment Opportunities

Just as a blog helps a freelance designer find full time work it can also help a designer to find full time work. As I mentioned before a blog is a small insight to the type of person you are alongside a portfolio of your work. You could also go as far to create video posts showcasing you and your work. A blog is also somewhere you can direct potential employers to when you are sending out letters and emails to prospective employers. The potential employer can view your work and see your level of knowledge and enthusiasm.

Jacob Cass from Just Creative Design received a job offer via twitter which I should imagine was down to his very popular blog which you can read about here.

3. Designers Can Make friends and Contacts

The blogosphere enables you to contact any other blogging designer to both ask and offer advice. In the past I have contacted fellow bloggers who have helped me and in turn I have answered questions through emails and comments from novice designers. It never ceases to amaze me how helpful people you have never met before can be. You may also be lucky enough to find people to collaborate with on projects (not something I have done yet myself).

4. Opportunites and Design Exposure

When I first started blogging David Airey already had a fairly popular blog, though nothing like as popular as it is now. After his first blog – http://www.davidarey.com he launched his incredibly popular http://www.logodesignlove.com early 2008, which not only made him become an authority in the area of logo design and I am sure allowed him deservedly to increase his prices, but also led to a book deal with Peachpit Press which you can read about here.

Maybe not every designer blogger will end up with a book deal but there are also design magazine opportunities. Open up issues of Computer Arts and some of the articles you will find written by a designer blogger. I personally wrote a small piece “last word” for Computer Arts Projects a couple of years ago after being emailed by one of the editors. Not only was this cool to do but I got paid for it too. There are also opportunities to write for high profile websites – Jennifer Farley, Laughing Lion Design now writes for Sitepoint and John Boardley Ilovetypography writes Linotype’s monthly newsletter.

5. Extra Cash from Advertising and Affiliate Programs

So for most of us this is probably not going to make a fortune, but a bit of paid advertising can cover your web hosting costs.

If you are writing reviews about products you like, in my opinion, there is no harm in using an affiliate link to the product as long as the review is genuine.

6. Design Freebies

Be honest, everyone loves a freebie. If you write a design blog with reasonable coverage you will probably be offered some free stuff to review whether it be free ebooks, real books software or other equipment.Personally I have received a few ebooks whichI have read. I reviewed the ones I liked but not the ones I didn’t. I have also received a couple of books, a couple of bits of software (one after I had already done a review of a trial version) and most recently a Wacom Bamboo tablet which I will review when I have played with it a bit more. I can only imagine what some of the big design blogs receive to try out.

7. Blogging to Sell your Themes, Graphics, Designs, Tshirts or Designer Merchandise

Designers who create web themes such as Wordpress themes can use a blog as a way of promoting their themes. Paid themes can generate a lot of revenue for some designers such as Brian Gardner who has developed a successful business selling premium themes, blog design and internet marketing. Blogs could also be used to generate traffic to sell vector graphics, photos, prints and posters or other merchandise.

8. Turning a Blog Post into a Business

Collis Ta’eed who was previously a web designer ran a blog called NorthxEast where he posted an article on his blog about freelancing. It was a big hit and realised that a site/blog about freelancing might be successful and set up the incredibly popular Freelanceswitch, he has also created Flashden and Tuts+. You only have to look at Freelanceswitch’s advertising prices alone (to see what a good business it is) not even taking into account the jobs board, ebooks and affiliate sales. You can also listen to a podcast interview with Collis here.

As a designer, do you think it is important to blog?

Recommended Resources

Blog Profits Blueprint (FREE) : A free downloadable report from Yaro Starak on the best ways to create a profitable blog

Book: ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income

Hosting: Hostgator, A good hosting provider for a blog who have one click Wordpress Install and video tutorials to get you started. I have had very good customer support from them.

• A record year for rainfall
• Jackets, blankets, and sheets
• I’m sorry I forgot you
• Things found on restaurant napkins

Then you purchase your moleskin sketchbook from them (only $25). Each artist gets sent the same blank moleskin sketchbook and the artist can fill the sketchbook with creative ideas that they feel fit within the theme. The completed sketchbooks are then sent back and will be included in the sketchbook tour and exhibited in galleries and museums. The collections will also be filmed so if you can’t get to see it in person you will be able to watch some of the exhibitions on the internet.

The sketchbook project can help to get your work exposed, according to the company:

CNN aired a piece about the 2009 tour, five participants were featured in a Time Out NY article about the 2010 tour, and PBS wrote an article about the 2009 tour which featured work from a slew of participants.

If you want to take part you need to sign up by October 31st 2010, postmark your book by 15th January 2011 and the tour will start March 2011.
(Sketchbook project found via tweet from Alison Day)
You can see some previous entrants below

Flipboard lets you sign in to your twitter (and facebook) account and then brings in all your content as web snippets to read at your leisure, newest first. It actually looks like you have a magazine in front of you, but it’s a magazine that is always updating…so cool.

See a couple of screen shots from mine below.

PS. If you don’t have an ipad check out Twitter Times instead

I found the app via listening to a social media podcast this week in social media

Brainstorming and Mindmaps

One of the things the majority of designers will do at the start of a project is create mind maps. I usually do mine in scribbled form with pencil and paper but there are also Ipad Apps that can help you with the task (and at least this way you won’t have trouble reading your own writing as I sometimes do). I have tried two mind map ipad Apps.

Idea Sketch (free)
A very simple brainstorming app that is simple with no frills – its just has options for the colour and shape of your boxes. Does the job.
Check it out here.

IThoughtsHD (paid) Another paid brainstorming app which offers you a few more options of different ways of linking, chains can be expanded and hidden. You can also add icons to your mindmaps. As my mind maps are pretty simple I would probably be more likely to use Idea Sketch.
Check it out here

Moodboards

I have used “real” moodboards in the past made up of torn up magazines stock onto mountboard. The ipad App does the same thing electronically.

Moodboard (Lite) free and Moodboard Pro (paid)
Moodboard (lite), which is the one I have currently got allows you to create one moodboard, after you have removed the sample content. Now this is not great I know, but it does give you a chance to take a look at the App and to experiment and see if it would be worth you paying for the Pro version. You can add your photos to the moodboards and include text and colour palletes to a mock cork board (pins and all).
Check it out here

Sketching

Every designer should sketch to help get ideas doown on paper quickly. The ipad has several apps which allows you to draw straight on the ipad with your finger or an ipad stylus.

Adobe Ideas (free)
A simple App from Adobe that has a few simple tools to allow you to sketch on the ipad. You have options to change the size of your brush, the colour and an eraser to rub things out.
Check it out here.

Sketchbook Pro (paid)
Sketchbook Pro takes sketching and painting to a whole other level with a wide choice of brush types and colours. You also have the useful addition of layers for more complex drawings. I have yet only managed doodles but some artists are creating some amazing ipad paintings
Check it out here

Random Ideas

If you have ever read anything about Edward De Bono you will know of his creative techniques using random words. In its simplest form the idea is to add a random word to a creative problem you are trying to solve in order to try and stimulate new more creative results.

Word Twiddle (paid but cheap)
Word twiddle looks like a one arm bandit of words. You basically press a button and it spins the words then stops on random ones. You can choose how many columns of words you have and what sort of words it picks – ie. nouns, adjectives. You should then try to see how you relate the words to your creative problem.
Check it out here

Inspiro (paid)
These ipad app is really different to anything else I have seen and I think it would be most useful for artists and creative writers. You start with three options – The muse, scenarios and the day dream machine. All the three options give you random phrases, scenarios and dreams and mostly are a little surreal. For example after playing a while with “the muse button” I got the phrase endlessly flaming creatures – if you were an artist perhaps that could inspire a painting or sculpture. I really like the scenarios which I think could be most useful for writers,  – after pushing the button I got  – “A shark trying to avoid a zebra”. You can choose to hold part of the phrase and have the rest change.
Check it out here

Time Management and Organization

Well what the heck has time management and organization got to do with creativity? Well to be honest I would have thought exactly the same a couple of weeks ago before reading Getting Things Done by David Allen. He believes that every thing that we try and remember we have to do in our heads takes up valuable RAM that we could be using on creativity instead. His idea is that you keep everything that you need to do, however small, in a written (or electronic form) so your brain doesn’t have to retain it. I have always just scheduled out my work as a list on paper but not necessarily included the other stuff I needed to do or personal projects I wanted to work on in the future.

I have downloaded a few time management/organiser apps and by far the best in my opinion (though it is the most expensive) is “Things“.

Things (paid)
Things allows you to break down all the stuff you need to do by projects. For example if you were working on a brochure design you might create a project and then within that put the date to work on initial brainstorming, then first visuals, then meeting with the client, time for amends, artwork, and printing deadlines. You can then put dates by any of these items. In the Today panel – you will then see any dates from all your different projects that you wanted to see today (jobs that are imminent).
Check it out here

Alternative organisers/time planners
Taska – similar to Things, it is cheaper but I found it less intuitive
Sorted – A much more basic lists app
Next Thing – Another more simple planner with lists for each day of the week

What iphone and ipad Apps do you think help boost creativity?

2. My name: Tom White

3. Company Name/University Name etc: Plymouth College of Art

4. Web Address: http://www.pcad.ac.uk (College’s Address) http://www.teejaystudios.blogspot.com (mine)

5. City, country – Plymouth, England

6. How you Start the Day – ie. Get up what time, travel?
I start the day at 7 in the morning where I get up and drag myself to the graphic studio at college via a 45 minute bus journey, sadly I am yet to experience the wonders of a car. Once I’m at college along with the other students, we all collect ourselves into this ‘conference’ room, and are briefed by the tutors at the college about the days events and what is expected.

7. First jobs – My first job was actually re-designing an entire companies face. There colours, there website, there flyers, there business cards. Was a massive project that went on for about 6-7 months. But sadly, They had to close because of the money eating climate were stuck in.

8. The rest of your work day – The rest of my work day includes various tasks, tasks such as seeing the mistress, updating my website, checking out Facebook and continuing with my studies. You only live once, so I enjoy a few nights out

9. Evening – well, If I’m at the house of an evening I spend my time on here. The internet, without this, id be dead. Its my inspiration and motivation to continue doing what I’m doing.

10. What you love about your job /course – It lets me express myself, and sets me mini task’s just like the ones I’ve been set as a budding freelancer.

11. What you hate about your job /student life – Waking up, lets be honest, nobody likes waking up in the mornings knowing you have a full day ahead of you, probably containing research or some sort of organisation of paper work.

To take part in – A day in the life, please read this post